Hong Kong police used tear gas and pepper spray on a crowd of pro-democracy protesters who ignored warnings and blocked the city’s main highway. The violence came after several days of student protests.

8 April!!!!!! After seeing the british teledrama Margaret and reading and viewing reports and commentaries on Margaret Thatcher’s passing A YEAR AGO, it’s my turn to write this résumé.

Geofrery Howe, Kenneth Clarke, Michael Heseltine, John Major, Neil Kinnock, Paddy Ashdown are some of the names that popped up immediately when I learnt of her death. Having grown up in colonial Hong Kong and spending my very first year living away from my home town for post-secondary education in Liverpool, I watched on TV many of the parliamentary debates she had as prime minister as well as her then very dramatic ouster.

Paddy Ashdown, leader of Liberal Democrats 1988-1999, was very polite in his tribute. Nevertheless he highlighted her liberalisation of markets, her stripping down the barriers to business and her lowering taxation
had resulted in not greater prosperity for all but tonear ruin and disgusting climate of greed of the few.

He added the freedom advanced in the Thatcher years were “strangely partial” since it was mainly “economic freedom” of a few. On the other hand, Thatcher didn’t care much about political freedom of gays, people of Scotland or women

It was an unmitigated disaster for Britain because, if you recall, it commenced with a series of Budget changes and use of interest rates which, combined with the fact that oil was monumentally coming on stream, pushed the price of the pound out of sight and succeeded in inflicting devastating harm on the productive base of Britain.

And the end result was not modernisation, it was ­devastation.

Finally, more salt on the wound: Totally absent in any Western media coverage, her encounter of a bigger beast called Deng Xiao Ping in Beijing, China in 1984 concerning the future of Hong Kong definitely occupied her mind and caused the infamous “kowtow”. But given her stand on Falkland Islands and Pinochet just marked the slow decline of an empire which could only look back to the past.

Rest in peace, Lady Thatcher. Apart from being the first female head of state of a G8 country, you also did the world a lot of damage. Unfortunately, even though I don’t wish for another Reagan or Thatcher or Mulroney, their incarnations will certainly pop out again and wreak havoc. Case in point? Manuel Valls, the new Bacelona-born French Prime Minister who once said the name “Parti Socialiste” and its policies are dated. Hold your breath people!

Godwin’s law coming into effect， inevitable? This time targeting the new Chief Executive of Hong Kong SAR, CY Leung. 唉！高德温效應又來了,衝着梁振英來的！

oops, Hitler reference!

I am not a fan of Falun Gong, but they always have an extremely long, equipped with marching band, huge banners and their carriers, procession towards the end of the parade. Visually, that’s very provoative indeed!

Falun Gong – as long as usual!

une ville n’est plus idéale? crié un slogan dans la manif.
我夢想的城市消失了？

Pearl of the Orient no more?

An almost universally true question thrown at the Police in all kinds of public demonstrations: “Police officers, Where’s your conscience?”

警察？ 良知？

The protest march meant so much to fellow citizens that many who missed the “full frontal” of the yearly retrocession day fireworks. Honestly, getting the naked truth from the marchers was better than the jubilant lies camouflaged in fireworks!

tail of the protest pausing for fireworks, FIVE hours after the start of the march!

Public transit made way for the marchers.

trams stopped

Streets free of people and traffic, after marchers flowed by for hours.

However, the artwork or protest outside of the venue, Victoria Park, or even Hong Kong, prove to be the most shocking visuals one can obtain this year related to the massacre 23 years ago.

坦克 1 tank

flesh and blood camouflaged in tranquility
寧靜覆蓋的血與肉

and this tank below from the student protests in Montreal, in Spring 2012. You don’t need me to tell you where they got their inspiration from for their prop.還有2012之春從加拿大滿地可學潮傳來一幀十分震撼的照片（大概是四月底前拍的，示威者的靈感未呼之已出！）

法國名導演安妮．華達於1968拍關於Black Panthers，一個在美國的黑人平權組織的紀錄片。Black Panthers 在六零年代末的美國當然是富爭議性。然而那個學運、反戰的年代也是各種平權運動發聲，翻天覆地的年代。在“所謂”自由平等的美國，黑人，甚至伸延至其他少數民族的平權路皆是艱難的。試聽聽受訪者的談話，看能否給你在社會、經濟、環境、同志、少數民族等的社會公義問題上得到啟示。It’s Black History Month in the USA and Canada. Even though I am not there now, when I got a chance to scan at Agnès Varda’s DVD shorts that my friend borrowed, I thought it would be appropriate viewing and then blogging Black Panthers (1968), one of Varda’s numerous short films.

Inspirational young leaders, definitely not how the government at the time had demonized them, appeared in the 26 minute documentary. Looking at social justices issues, the Blacks in the late 1960s to now at 2011, discrimination is still alive and well unfortunately, with battle grounds still with all forms of injustices whether it is minority groups, immigrants, low income people, LGBTs, etc.

Big Afro hair, proud to be “natural”, NOT straight hair, not just light skin.
The appearance may be dated, but self acceptance and affirmation of the concerned groups is part of coming of age of any social movement.